NEWS
Demerit system to finally begin Tuesday
After months of postponements, the Road Traffic Demerit Points System will come into effect on Tuesday. This amendment to the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic Act was made in 2017 to encourage safer and more responsible driving from the public. It was initially reported to come into effect in September 2019. But in January 2020, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan finally announced the system will be rolling out on March 2, 2020. Read more here
Monkey found in hospital operating theatre
As medical personnel at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital (POSGH) prepared to resume elective surgeries on Friday, they were delayed for a few hours more after a wild monkey was found in the operating theatre. Forced to wait for some additional time as zoological officers were called in to capture the animal, hospital officials have denied social media claims that a snake was also found on the hospital compound around the same time. Following an almost three-month interruption of the elective surgeries programme implemented by the Ministry of Health, Friday's resumption was said to be the first scheduled to take place in the area of obgynaecology. Elective surgeries were among the first set of non-essential procedures to be postponed by the authorities back in March as they battled to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Read more here
POLITICS
Sinanan: Five years to eradicate flooding for good
Within the next five years it is hoped that flooding in TT will be a thing of the past as plans are afoot to have a national drainage program aimed at eradicating the financial burden of flooding. The studies are now being done, but already Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan ia saying it will be "an expensive project." Speaking with Sunday Newsday at his London Street, Port of Spain office on Thursday, Sinanan said there is a programme being drafted, taking into consideration all the studies done previously, to have a national plan to treat with flooding. Read more here
Kamla: PM Rowley hiding from issues
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of hiding from the media as he attempts to evade serious questions relating to the governance of this country. In a release Saturday, she expressed concerns over media reports that T&T had been warned by the US authorities that they could face sanctions if they moved to offer any assistance to five Iranian fuel tankers that were en route to Venezuela. She said if claims relating to escalating tensions between the US, Venezuela and Iran were indeed true, Rowley "needs to tell the population exactly what are the potential consequences for T&T since we are virtually caught in the middle of this potentially dangerous shipment."Persad-Bissessar claimed Rowley "had apparently gone into hiding" following the refusal to host the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing last Thursday or to account during Friday's Parliamentary session. Read more here
BUSINESS
As Iranian tankers approach Caribbean
A Flotilla of five tankers carrying Iranian fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela is approaching the Caribbean, with the first vessel expected to reach the South American country’s waters today, according to Refinitiv Eikon tracking data. Read more here
REGIONAL
Unregulated ambulance services, uncertified emergency technicians could be putting public in danger
Three weeks after a probe revealed that most local private hospitals were unregistered, The Sunday Gleaner has learnt that the island’s private ambulance service is operating without oversight, putting members of the public at risk. When contacted last Wednesday, Dunstan Bryan, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, said he needed to run some checks. He later reported that he was “not aware of any legislative framework that supervises their (private ambulances) operations”. Basil Ferguson, an emergency medical technician (EMT) based at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, told The Sunday Gleaner that apart from the initial application process, there are no accountability checks. Read more here
Man killed by mentally unstable sibling
THE police are currently investigating the murder of 39-year-old Cleveland Hodge, who died after he was allegedly stabbed by his mentally unstable older brother. Hodge, of lot 411 Buzzbee Dam, Craig, East Bank Demerara, was stabbed multiple times on May 21,2020 by his 42-year-old brother who is known as ‘Poohbear’. The suspect who also lives at the same residence is said to be mentally ill and a patient of Dr. Bhiro Harry’s psychiatric clinic. The Guyana Chronicle understands that on May 21 around 15:10hrs, Hodge his brother, the suspect, with a knife in his possession and approached him in an effort to prevent him from harming himself. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
Hong Kong police fire tear gas as protesters decry China security law plan
Police in Hong Kong have fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters rallying against China's plans to impose a new security law on the territory. Thousands of demonstrators have been marching through the city centre. Police say 120 have been arrested. Earlier, 200 senior politicians from around the world issued a joint statement criticising China's plan. Signatories called it a "comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms". China is seeking to pass a law that would ban "treason, secession, sedition and subversion" in the territory. Read more here
The other Hong Kong: Will China's democratic enclave become just like the mainland?
For years, even as China has applied increasing pressure on Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, the framework of "One Country, Two Systems"—the dividing line that keeps Hong Kong relatively autonomous from the authoritarian mainland—has been respected by the Chinese Communist Party in theory. The illusion of autonomy has now officially been shattered. Read more here
24th May 2020